Thailand’s oldest hippo celebrates 61st birthday

Khao Kheow Open Zoo celebrated the 61st birthday of ‘Mae Mali’ (Mother Mali), Thailand's oldest hippopotamus, on Tuesday with a special fruit cake and well-wishes from staff, executives and visitors.

Zoo Director Narongwit Chodchoi led the festivities at the hippopotamus enclosure in Si Racha district of Chon Buri province, where fans gathered to sing "Happy Birthday" as the elderly female hippo slowly emerged from her pool to enjoy her treat.

The giant fruit cake featured many of her favourite foods, including watermelon, dragon fruit, apples, papaya, bananas, sweet potatoes, grapes, carrots and fresh grass.

Mae Mali was donated to Thailand by Tilburg Zoo in the Netherlands on June 8, 1967, when she was just a year old. She was initially housed at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, before being transferred to Khao Kheow Open Zoo on December 18, 2018.

Over more than six decades in Thailand, Mae Mali has given birth to 14 calves. She remains in good health and under the close supervision of veterinarians and caretakers, with supporters hoping she may eventually set a record as the world's oldest living hippopotamus.